Meet our Multifaith Fellows!

If you are wondering what a “multifaith” community is, it is a group of people who create spaces for sharing and exploring identities, perspectives, convictions, and practices. At Hearth, {Pause}, or any of the programs of the Multifaith Chaplaincy, you will meet some of these student leaders and many others who bring unique stories and perspectives. These Multifaith Fellows plan all the activities of the Multifaith Chaplaincy and below you can find a few words about what they have found in this community.

2017-2018 Student Multifaith Fellows

Haley Crim ’19 is an ES major and Russian minor from Maryland. This fall, she will be serving as an Interfaith Engagement Coordinator with Keenan. She comes from a Quaker town, and the Chaplaincy’s values of simplicity, equality, and acceptance remind her of home. She also loves Sundae Sunday, skiing, and watching movies.

Brooke Drabkin ’18 is a History major and Education Studies minor from New York. She is passionate about reading literature, and spends much of her time with members of the Lewiston community spreading her love for books and working on literacy projects. Brooke is SO excited about joining the amazing fellows community this winter as the Baccalaureate coordinator. She looks forward to creating a space for her class to reflect on all of the wonderful memories that are created during four years at Bates. In her free time, Brooke likes to cook, listen to Harry Potter on repeat, and do as much yoga as humanly possible.

Woods Fairchild ’18 holds a home split in Boston and Sherborn, MA, two halves that together make family. She enjoys the adventurous gift of finding a home in both the wild center city, and the quiet cow town of the countryside. She is a senior studying Biological & Health Psychology, Education, and Dance, and continues to figure out what that all really means to her. With a passion for movement and exploring, she continues to lead an experimental path in navigating how to tap into her truest curiosities: alternative medicine, healing, and the human body. She is a firm believer that when life is high, and when life is low, the answer is always, “just dance!”

Samantha Garapati ’18 is a senior majoring in Rhetoric: Screen Studies, and minoring in Philosophy and Anthropology. She is from Madras, India, where her family has a one and a half year old golden retriever named Harper (she has an Instagram). She is an atheist and her family is Hindu. The people and the places that make up the Multifaith Chaplaincy at Bates fill her with joy and she is VERY excited to be a Stringfellow Coordinator.

Erin Hazlett-Norman ’19 is an Environmental Studies major who calls the red clay and bluegrass of Durham, North Carolina home. Her passion lies at intersections of the environment and social justice. She has roots in both Quaker and Unitarian Universalist communities and believes faith and spirituality to be profoundly nurturing soils for the growth of meaningful relationships, accountability, justice, and joy. She is excited to be joining the Multifaith Fellows in the winter semester as an Interfaith Engagement Coordinator.

Sadie Homeier ’18 is from Pennsylvania but calls Vermont home. She is a Psychology major and a Women, Gender studies Minor. She loves creating spaces where people can engage with themselves without the stressors of school work. With open ears and a open heart, Sadie loves to support her community through active dialogues and therefore promote positive mental health. By being one of the two {Pause} fellows, she wishes to make space for people to take a peaceful break and experience the artistic community that they are a part of. Besides hanging out with her friends, Sadie enjoys running, biking, and cooking in her free time.

Maddi McKay ’18 is a senior at Bates, double majoring in Gender & Sexuality Studies and Studio Art. She is particularly interested in critical education, working toward racial justice, and creative communal approaches to liberation. She has worked within the Chaplaincy as a Stringfellow Coordinator since her Freshman year, designing and implementing programming to support and engage the wider community around various social justice-related topics. Though she grew up in the greater Philadelphia area, her network of loved ones in Lewiston has made Maine a home as well. Maddi loves things rich with life-laughter, plants, music, animals, words, and humans.

Within the Chaplaincy I’ve found a place where I am both pushed to grow, and have room to grow, where I’ve met role models, and where I’ve learned some of my most valuable lessons about working in groups and communities. Working as a fellow has brought me warmth, challenge, and joy, and through the Multifaith Chaplaincy I have made some of my dearest friends at Bates.

Sara Moradi ’20 is from Glenview, Illinois interested in studying Politics and Economics. She loves reading and her favorite place on Earth is her local public library. Music is another one of her biggest passions: she’ll listen to everything. She’s excited to be a Hearth coordinator and to work with the chaplaincy in finding and keeping herself balanced on campus.

I developed the ability to accept and let go of events that are out of my control (through Noontime Meditation) and continue bouncing back through self-love and appreciation.

Ezra Olif-Lieberman ’18 Ezra is a senior from New Jersey studying Peace and Conflict and Religious Studies, with some French and Arabic thrown in for fun. He’s passionate about community organizing, long walks in the woods, and the breakfast sandwich from Forage Market. He works as a Hearth coordinator, and can’t wait to see you there!

I have found a beautiful, inspiring community through the Multifaith Chaplaincy, full of fantastic humans, great stories, and the warmest hugs.

Keenan Shields ’18 calls many places home, namely Maine and various Scout camps. He found another when he stumbled into the Multifaith community, which has been a deep source of rejuvenation, communion, solace, silence, and warm love for him ever since. These spaces continue to be a blessing for this still-wandering soul. This fall, he will take his explorations off-campus and bring van loads of people with him as an interfaith engagement coordinator. Keenan continues to identify as a searcher and one who is becoming.

Here, I have found a clearing. Below the sky, within tall trees. In the center, a flame. It has room for me and many others. It is a rare space where I am asked only to be. No obligations. No demands. Only my presence and quiet listening. I have found a space in which to hold and be held. Where breath can come, laughter can rock, and silence can still. I am a watered seed here; there is still much to uncover.

Emilio Valadez ’18 is a multi-talented polymath who is known for posing profound philosophical quandaries, playing any instrument available, and hip-hop dancing. He is from Texas and can occasionally be seen in overalls, but never in a Stetson. He is brimming with excitement about stoking a mellow vibe as a {Pause} Fellow.